Bistro Beetroot Salad with Lentils, Maple Syrup and Walnuts
Recipe
There was a time when I would not know what to do with beets. Okay, I was aware of the famous borscht, in fact our family would always make it for Christmas Eve as a traditional soup for that time of the year, but that was about it. I guess I was unconvinced mostly because the taste of beetroot on its own is a bit earthy. But then, about a year ago, I had this ‘aha’ moment when my opinion changed 180 degrees and I even named it my favourite veg. Carefully combining it with other ingredients you can make out of it so many dishes: smoothies, juices, salads, soups, roasted stews and even… falafel. In salads I like to combine it with sweet flavours, like in the below salad: with maple syrup. Since beets are available most of the year, this is a perfect salad come sun or rain.
Equipment: frying pan
Prep time: 20 min
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients
- 250g cooked beetroot¹ or 4 medium size cooked and peeled beetroots
- 1 pack of lamb lettuce, approx. 70g²
- 130g uncooked brown or green (Puy) lentils / 1 can of cooked lentils (after drainage they weight 265g)
- 30g walnuts
- 30g brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. coconut oil
Dressing:
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- Freshly ground black pepper
[1] I get the Vacuum Pack from Sainsbury’s
[2] I actually like to use the Bistro Salad by Sainsbury’s as it’s a mixture of lamb lettuce, mix chard leaves and a little bit of shredded cooked beetroot
Method
1. If using dried lentils, start by rinsing them thoroughly and then place in a cooking pot, cover with double the quantity of water and cook for 20-25 min.
2. Place walnuts in a frying pan with the coconut oil and sugar and cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes constantly stirring until all sugar is melted and nuts are coated. Once done, immediately place them onto parchment paper and separate the walnuts right away to make sure you’re not going to end up with an inseparable pile of nuts.
3. Mix all the dressing ingredients into a salad bowl.
4. Chop the beets into 1.5 cm cubes; add to the salad bowl together with lettuce and cooked (or canned) lentils.
5. Add the caramelised walnuts and serve with freshly ground black pepper to taste.